Airtable vs n8n

Bending Spoons Completes Airtable Acquisition

Bending Spoons S.p.A. has completed its acquisition of Airtable, a platform used by over 500,000 organizations, in an all-cash transaction. The deal marks Bending Spoons' first acquisition since its Nasdaq listing on July 1, 2026. Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari stated the company will invest heavily in Airtable's product, customer support, and go-to-market capabilities to sustain growth. Airtable co-founder Howie Liu expressed confidence in the new ownership. The transaction was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and EY Advisory for Bending Spoons, with Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan as co-financial advisors. Latham & Watkins and AXOM Partners advised Airtable. The financial outlook provided by Bending Spoons on August 13, 2026, excluded Airtable's contribution, which will be incorporated in future reports.

• Bending Spoons completed the acquisition of Airtable.
• Airtable is used by more than 500,000 organizations.
• The deal is all-cash.

Apply to Host a Side Event at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

TechCrunch is inviting organizations to apply to host Side Events around TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco. Disrupt runs October 13–15, 2026, and approved Side Events can take place October 10–16; applications are free and the deadline to apply is September 4, 2026. Hosts must provide venue, title and description; approved events will be promoted to Disrupt attendees via TechCrunch's Side Events calendar and marketing channels.

• TechCrunch is accepting applications to host Side Events at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
• TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 runs October 13–15, 2026 in San Francisco; Side Events may be scheduled October 10–16, 2026.
• Application deadline for Side Events is September 4, 2026; there is no cost to apply or participate.

n8n Signals OAuth MCP Onboarding and More Connectors

n8n has signaled a streamlined way to add Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers into agent-driven AI workflows via a Node-panel selection and an OAuth sign-in flow. The company’s announcement points to an expanding connector catalog that names Airtable, Miro, Grafana, New Relic, Jotform and PandaDoc and a claimed 70 MCP servers visible from the Node panel (the exact count is reported by n8n but not independently confirmed in separate documentation). The change could reduce setup friction for AI agents needing access to operational systems, though governance, permissions, server-level capabilities and commercial terms (pricing/plan requirements) remain unresolved and should be evaluated per integration.

• n8n indicated users will be able to add an MCP server from the Node panel using an OAuth sign-in flow.
• The announcement named Airtable, Miro, Grafana, New Relic, Jotform and PandaDoc among the additions to its MCP catalog.
• n8n's announcement video states 70 MCP servers are available directly from the Node panel (this count was not independently confirmed in the supplied research).

n8n Still Relevant Despite Claude Code Rise

In a podcast episode, n8n CEO Jan Oberhauser discusses why n8n remains essential despite the rise of agentic coding tools like Anthropic's Claude Code. He argues that n8n, as an orchestration layer, provides reliability, auditability, and team collaboration features that Claude Code lacks. The company has evolved from personal automation to business-critical workflows, with 200K+ GitHub stars, 1.5M active users, and 1,200 enterprise customers. SAP's investment at a $5.2B valuation and embedding n8n into Joule Studio highlight its enterprise relevance. Oberhauser recommends using Claude Code for rapid prototyping and n8n for production workflows requiring approvals, logging, and team hand-offs. He also shares insights into n8n's hiring approach, emphasizing technical depth and builder mentality.

• SAP invested in n8n at a $5.2B valuation in May 2025.
• n8n has 200K+ GitHub stars, 1.5M active users, and 1,200 enterprise customers.
• Claude Code surpassed n8n in search interest by the holidays of 2025.

EU Apply AI Summit to Showcase Real-World AI Adoption

On 17 November 2026, the European Commission's AI Office will host the Apply AI Summit in Brussels, focusing on practical AI adoption across European businesses and the public sector. The event, expected to draw about 900 in-person and 2,500 online attendees, will highlight real-world European AI use cases in healthcare, energy, mobility, manufacturing, and other sectors. It marks the first anniversary of the EU's Apply AI Strategy and serves as the closing event of the first European AI Innovation Month. The summit will feature keynotes from European Commission EVP Henna Virkkunen and other leaders, and will present the Apply AI Startup Award to emerging European AI companies. The event underscores Europe's push to move from experimentation to large-scale AI adoption, particularly among SMEs.

• The Apply AI Summit will be held in Brussels on 17 November 2026, organized by the European Commission's AI Office.
• Eurostat data shows 20% of EU enterprises with 10+ employees used AI in 2025, up from 13.5% in 2024.
• The summit marks the first anniversary of the European Commission's Apply AI Strategy and the closing of the European AI Innovation Month.

Introducing n8n Assistant

New blog post announcing the launch of n8n Assistant, a product feature. The post is authored by Paul Gordon and dated September 2026.